It was a wild day! Today's Hall H panels were something to be remembered.
The first panel was concerning Quentin Tarantino's
Django Unchained. The director arrived with various cast members such as Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Walton Goggins, Kerry Washington, and Nash Bridges himself, Don Johnson. During the panel, Tarantino in a very entertaining, and self-glorifying mood touched on a lot of aspects such as what the essence of the film would be, and how he prepared his actors to engage, and immerse themselves into the roles. It was very enjoyable seeing great performers reflecting on working with the director, and to top it off a descent amount of footage was shown. A sizzle reel as Tarantino called it.
A scheduled "Trailer Park" sadly was cancelled in last minute, but what followed was the first step to blowing things out of proportion. The Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures had begun, and immediately, the main theater screen began to expand to the left and right of the hall. What followed were tidbits of behind-the-scenes footage from movie wizard Guillermo del Toro new science-fiction epic
Pacific Rim.
Without further delay Legendary Pictures CEO, Thomas Tull, came on stage to bring out the director himself. The mexican director sat at the panel full of energy, expressing full confidence in his upcoming film, and managed to amp up the geek-filled room within seconds, by first allowing cast members such as Ron Perlman, Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day, and Rinko Kikuchi to step on stage, and right after an exclusive first look of
Pacific Rim was screened.
The footage was simply amazing and mind-boggling. It seemed like del Toro once again managed to pull off something remarkable even though the CGI apparently wasn't yet full rendered. Shots of gigantic robots falling on vast snowy landscapes, sea and arial monsters, and the pilots that control the robotic giants were showcased in a gritty environment. British actor Idris Elba had a small speech that stamped off the footage as epic.
"Today the edge of our hope…the end of our time…we have chosen to believe in each other. Today we face the monsters at our door. Today we are canceling the apocalypse!"
After the footage ended del Toro simply added that, what had just been screened would just be "the tip". He afterwards reflected on tackling the film, by not only making it an homage to japanese Kaiju films, but to also make a difference in the scale of films. He promised everyone that the film would be visually outstanding, but also focused on adding a strong sense of humanity, and the emotion of "being there".
After del Toro's
Pacific Rim panel, there was a neat surprise visit by Will Ferrell, and Zach Galifianakis. The two comedians presented some extremely hilarious scenes from their upcoming film
The Campaign which is set to his cinemas beginning of August.
What happened next was the pure definition of the word epic. The Hall's main screen featured a small clip of the Superman logo positioning itself in the center of the frame, almost like the intro of Tim Burton's Batman 1989. Without further due the host of the panel called out Zack Snyder, the director helming the Superman reboot
Man Of Steel. After confirming that the film's principal photography had ended, he instantly presented the fans with something they had been waiting for a very long time. Some footage of Henry Caville as the man that's faster, than a speeding bullet. Here's what the footage featured:
Inserts of outdoor shots of the Kent farm.
An older, bearded Clark Kent walks down a snowy road, with a back pack.
Young Clark with his dog, grabbing a presumed red bed sheet, that's hanging out with other laundry.
Young Clark Kent running in a red cape, followed by a pan from top to bottom stopping at the chest.
Jor-El (Voice-over): "What if a child dreamed about becoming something more? What if a child aspired to something greater?
Cut to bus crashing into water.
Unknown Woman: "My son was in the bus, he saw what Clark did."
Young Clark Kent trying to rescue children from the drowning bus, while water rushes in.
Jonathan Kent (Voice-over): "People are afraid of what they don't understand.
Young Clark Kent uncovers at what seems to be his spaceship that transported him to earth.
Jonathan Kent: "It's not from this world Clark…and neither are you."
Shot of Clark's kryptonian parents watching while the casket carrying Baby Clark rises up the air into a spaceship.
Cut to older and bearded Clark Kent in the presumed Fortress of Solitude holding an information crystal.
Clark Kent (Henry Caville): "Answer my question…where do I come from?
Jor-El appears as a hologram.
Jonathan Kent (Voice-over): "You just have to decide what kind of man you want to be, Clark. Good or bad…it's going to chance the world."
Superman in full costume walks out of the Fortress of Solitude, staring at the sun, kneeing down, and taking off.
Superman passes clouds with an uncanny speed.
Shot of buses, trucks, and cars being sucked up into the sky.
Clark Kent holding kid with a Tornado in the background.
First shot of Amy Adams as Lois Lane.
Bearded and shirtless Clark Kent walking out of a burning room, with flames on his body simply disappearing with every step away from the fire.
Clark Kent buried in skulls, reaching out with his right hand.
Quick insert shot of Michael Shannon as General Zod.
Camera tracking shot of buildings with Superman from above tackling an unknown individual/item in the air.
Unknown person falling.
Handcuffed Superman being escorted by soldiers in a hallway.
Superman kiss Lois Lane.
Clark Kent (Voice-over): "My father believed...
Shot of Hand on Kent family picture.
Military base.
Clark Kent (Voice-over): "That if the world found out who I really was."
Superman being slammed into a fault door.
Clark Kent (Voice-over): "They would reject me…
Clark holds a hugs a woman…possibly Lois.
Clark Kent (Voice-over): "They would fear me."
Clark Kent walking passed the Daily Planet lobby globe.
Clark Kent (Voice-over): "He was convinced…
Clark enter lift…just as lift door closes we see him put on his glasses.
Clark Kent (Voice-over): "That the world wasn't ready."
Shot of soldiers walking through a destroyed hallway.
Low-shot of Superman's boots standing opposite to the oncoming soldiers.
Clark Kent (Voice-over): "What do you think?"
Superman Logo.
After that fantastic screening, Henry Caville came on staged, and was kind enough to answer some fan question. One of the notable question was concerning a Justice League movie. Zack Snyder simply replied that they would first need to clean up "Superman's house, and then he would see. I guess Warner Bros do have some plans in mind!
Notably was also that one fan actually got quite emotional, and ended up shedding a tear or two. He seemed filled with joy that this Superman reboot. In my personal estimate the teaser that the premiered was everything I hoped Superman to be and more. My faith is restored!
SDCC Highlight Recap Part 2 will follow soon! Stay tuned!